WWE Royal Rumble (1/28/23)

- As many have pointed out on Twitter, AEW star Ricky Starks was at WWE Royal Rumble. He's remained close with Cody Rhodes, and was at WrestleMania last year. This is not out of the ordinary at all. Dolph Ziggler was at the AEW LA show, and Britt Baker was at NXT shows often when Adam Cole was there.

- WWE had more media events in relation to Royal Rumble than any PPV in recent memory. This included events with 2K, Special Olympics, and military.

- WWE were very happy with the numbers of the Royal Rumble, and sent out press releases touting viewership and live gate records. The live gate was over $7.7 million

- The company pushed hard to implement more sponsors for this show, which was evident on the broadcast. Triple H noted to media they doubled their previous high for sponsorship dollars for the Royal Rumble. We're told to expect this to continue.

- The Hardy performance was largely scoffed at by those we spoke to in the company, and felt like it compromised

- Pat McAfee was originally pitched for a Royal Rumble spot, as he confirmed our report. Michael Cole and Corey Graves both did not know that he was coming out. We're told that a private jet brought McAfee in the day of the show. WWE are hopeful that they can have him wrestle again this year.

- Chelsea Green was not hidden, and was at the venue throughout the day. She brought several different kinds of gear to the show.

- Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows were not in town for the show. We're told they were never planned for the event after AJ Styles' injury.

- Cody Rhodes claimed that he wasn't officially cleared until the day of the Royal Rumble. Those close to him had told us that he wasn't cleared as of last month when he went to the WWE Performance Center.

- The NIL recruits had a big week with WWE. Several were at the Special Olympics event, a fireside chat and dinner, as well as the Royal Rumble itself. We spoke to some within WWE that specifically spoke highly of Abby Jacobs. One source said they believe she would transition to wrestling well if she goes that route.

- We're told that the Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Bloodline and Sami Zayn was a "curtain sellout" for many, and wrestlers and staff were crowded around the monitors in silence watching the angle play out.

- One source called the Royal Rumble backstage experience "very laid back" and noted that the children of many wrestlers were backstage having fun.

- The PPV went a little over time. It was scheduled for four hours. It ended up going about twelve minutes past that.

- Ronda Rousey was not expected for this show from the point that she lost the Women's Title.

- There was no realistic situation for Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock to have an in-ring faceoff at the Royal Rumble, as some had inaccurately speculated. Austin had been pitched for several other things over recent months, and talks with the Rock hadn't went anywhere.
 
SportsByRo said:
WWE is extremely happy with the performance of the Royal Rumble event over the weekend, PWInsider.com can confirm.

PWInsider.com is told that those in the company are "extremely thrilled" with the event's viewership on Peacock. We are hearing that the viewership was well, well up from last year's live Rumble viewership in great numbers.

Paul Levesque stated during the post-Rumble media conference that the event in San Antonio at the Alamodome was the largest Rumble live gate in the history of the event, which dates back to January 1989 as a PPV. Levesque also stated the company hit their highest sponsorship numbers for the event as well.
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With numbers like this I bet they are happy

 
TonyDubbz said:
Shit was crazy. Jimmy telling Jey "You think this your brother? im your brother" was wild. I gues we bout to see Jimmy level up to the right hand man now just like Jey did whenever he had finally come around to being with Roman.

Solo will keep his role as the enforcer
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To think this story started with Jey vs. Roman.. Jey finally acknowledging and having to get Jimmy buy in. Now Jimmy is riding and Jey is on the outs. Shit is about to come full circle. Masterful storytelling.
 
I don't appreciate the hate yall giving Nia. She creates STARS...ask Becky.

Shiiieeeettt...one of them women in that RR needed a good punch from her to boost their career. Lol
 
IP360 said:
I don't appreciate the hate yall giving Nia. She creates STARS...ask Becky.

Shiiieeeettt...one of them women in that RR needed a good punch from her to boost their career. Lol
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I don’t care that she’s anti vaccine but it’s her work and her injuring people. And she’s huge!! No thanks
 
Brock Lesnar gained a little heat for a spot this year's Royal Rumble match, we're told.

Brock Lesnar had a brief, but memorable Royal Rumble appearance, with him eliminating several superstars before being tossed out himself. Afterwards, Lesnar destroyed the ringside area, lifting the stairs, and tossing a referee over the barricade. Fightful has learned that some of the aftermath wasn't planned and caught a few by surprise.

There were a couple of people in the ring and ringside who weren't prepared for the stairs spot, and didn't know it was coming. The spot where Brock Lesnar threw a piece of the announce table inside the ring was also unplanned. One source said "we knew a freak out was planned, and it's Brock, so expect anything and everything." So all seemed well there.

However, the spot that seemed to get Lesnar a bit of heat was an unplanned situation was when referee Eddie Orengo was thrown over the barricade. We're told that initially it looked like he possibly sustained a foot injury, but we're not sure of the status of Orengo. He was supposed to be the ref that raised Cody Rhodes' hand at the end of the match, which was changed when he had to sell to the back.

It's worth noting that when Fightful was told about this and had it confirmed, one source said "heat is a relative term for Brock Lesnar. He's not going to get in trouble. He's certainly not going to be fired like Cryme Tyme was. It's a new regime, new rules, and I'm not sure anyone involved was mad or not, but some people backstage were."
 
One year can change a lot.

In the recent Inside The Rumble 3 feature, we spoke heavily about how our contacts within and around WWE had stated that morale had never been lower in the company than it was around the time of the Royal Rumble in 2022. That's shifted significantly based on the follow ups from this year.

Vince McMahon was not seen at the Royal Rumble, and his creative influence was not felt on the show. Those that we've heard back from have stated that from a day to day and weekly basis, the atmosphere is much more laid back. One of the only reminders of Vince's influence remains the "Vince's office" directional sign that hasn't been changed since he left, but points to a section of the backstage area that is completely different. One source says it's not like anyone is fearful of bringing up his name, but generally most haven't really asked much since Triple H, Nick Khan and Kevin Dunn held meetings assuring the roster that McMahon wouldn't be involved in creative or talent relations.

One talent that had noted to us that the process of the Rumble itself was the easiest in a long time without Vince McMahon at the helm, and that there were way less last minute changes. That talent also said that you can't really count 2021 towards that because of COVID, but that this year's was a dream compared to last year's nightmare.

Even NXT talent that Fightful spoke to expressed optimism now that the one-year ban on NXT talent being in the Rumble was lifted.

Talent also spoke of the main event segment being a "new age curtain sellout" with many people quietly around monitors watching the Bloodline/Sami Zayn angle play out.

The only complaints that we heard of were about the Hardy performance cutting into the time of others, and some minor transitional things that they believe the current regime will get used to.
 
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